Space X SN8 Static Fire Completed

[Startrek]

Starship prototype SN8 completed a static fire of all three Raptor engines out time this morning ( extremely short duration )
Haven’t checked if Elon has tweeted a comment about it yet
Maybe Glen has more information ?
Can’t wait for the 15km test flight due early December ( date to be confirmed)
If successful, Starship will have a very busy test schedule next year in anticipation for a an eagerly awaited orbital test flight

[glend]

No Martin, I Don't have any more info. I did see the short static fire. I believe they are purposely keeping them very short now due to the damage to the concrete under the stand. Felix (What About It), had a segment about a material called Martye ( may be missplet) which is used to coat concrete at launch sites, but is very expensive. Those glowing bits you see flying up in recent static fires are suspected of being Martye and bits of which are the suspected cause of the damage to the Raptor and pneumatic control system in the last big test. If flame diverters were used then the risk of Martye bits being thrown back into the engines is greatly reduced. Elon has previously said they might have to review the strategy of not using flame diverters, especially for the booster where you have 27 engines lighting up. I suspect In a test flight the ship will pretty much jump off the stand straight away and be less likely to be damaged by debris flying up, but it is still a risk, a risk that could cause the loss of the vehicle if the debris hit the right spot. The pneumatic system failure in the last big static fire probably pointed out to them that lack of a redundant backup, or protection for the pneumatic system hoses and components, was a single point of failure. There is no info on what SpaceX has done to remedy that, but I suspect they maybe be leaving a design change to the next versions of the Starship.